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Guest blog: To put yourself in the way of beauty

February 18, 2015 by Helen-Edwards 1 Comment

Guest blog from Georgia

I’m one of those people who gets inspired easily, and I’ve wanted to see the movie ‘Wild’ for a while now. I have this tendency to adapt to films I love or am inspired by and want to incorporate a part of them in my life.

Hence Jurassic Park > My trip to Africa, no I’m not insane and yes, I do have my own life. But I have to say as inspiring as Reese Witherspoon was in this film, I’m not prepared to hike 1000 miles through rain, heat and snow, although the scenery looked great.

I was inspired however, by this quote that was said throughout the movie “To put yourself in the way of beauty” – the more you think about it, the more powerful it gets.

There was one part of the movie (I promise; no spoiler alert) where Reese was mad at her mother for dancing around the kitchen, slamming “we have no money, our house is falling apart and we will both be paying off student loans for the rest of our lives, what do you have to dance about”.

Her response was, you can either stress about it or learn to love regardless and enjoy the beauty of life. So many times I freak out, over things out of my control and lately I have been becoming slowly more inspired by the raw beauty of life – when I walk to work I don’t look down at my phone I look up at the buildings and the people on their way to work and think of what their story may be. I love seeing people jump in and out of coffee shops getting their morning fix to get them through the day.
Because if you look around every once in a while things aren’t all that bad.

Remember how I mentioned, I was going to see a new Endocrinologist? Well I did and he was fabulous, there wasn’t a moment I felt guilty (nor should I have). Not only was it the first time I left without wanting to cry or feel I needed to change everything about my life, but it has reminded me of how well I am doing. Not often that happens, where I feel accomplished that I am doing my best. It’s a strange thing, where it’s not something you chose to have, yet it’s a constant feeling of failing and I know I am not the only one who feels like this.

I also think that to everyone out there living with diabetes and who have that constant ‘not good enough’ feeling, get rid of it, it’s not doing you any favours!

Adéu
Georgia

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Those cloudy days with diabetes

November 28, 2014 by georgia Leave a Comment

Yesterday it rained.

It’s the time of the year where we should be stripping off, not layering on, but every rule has it’s exception. It’s the middle of November and it’s raining.

It reminds me of having diabetes, you get a streak of good BGL (Blood Glucose Level) readings then BAM out of nowhere and for no good reason a storm hits, sometimes it’s just a light drizzle in the morning or a few clouds in the afternoon yet others, as they say ‘when it rains, it pours’ and those sunny days seem long gone.

At least with the weather, it’s forecasted. There’s no such luck with having Diabetes, you can do everything right, administer the right amount of insulin that you worked out by doing the BGL:Carbohydrate ratio and still have a gust of wind blow you off track.

As much as Diabetes is about science, without being hooked up to a machine 24/7 there is no formula that can work every time – it’s forever changes and like science there are unaccounted factors that come in to play, except instead of being in a lab hovering over a microscope you’re at school, or your day job and have to juggle everything all at once.

Sometimes it feels like I’m working two jobs.

However you do get the opposite happen, and lately my days have been a bit cloudy – it’s the typical no matter how hard you try, everything and anything that can go wrong – will go wrong, good old Murphy and his laws!

At the moment, the sun is shining for me (not at the moment – I’m watching the rain drizzle down my window) but I’m having one of those lucky days, where my diabetes is cooperating with me.

Not many people understand the ongoing frustration of juggling everything to get your levels right – only those who share the pain (literally) of injection after injection and test after test. So when those sunny days come – embrace them. And when those rainy days come – dance in the rain because you are doing as much as you can do – before you know it a sunny day is just around the corner (well it’s stuck behind a cloud).

No matter what the weather, stand tall and we can get through this together!

Until next time
Georgia

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Research: why does it matter? The Endia study

October 16, 2014 by helwild Leave a Comment

As the parent of someone with Type 1 diabetes, it can seem that the only organisation in the world doing research into diabetes is the International Charity, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or as it is more usually known nowadays, the JDRF. For many years, I have ‘walked for the cure’ hoping that one day it would happen. And of course many people connected by Type 1 diabetes, all over the world, are supporting JDRF, working, hoping for the day ‘the cure’ will come.

However, it is good to know that there are many other wonderful organisations undertaking vital research to assist people managing Living with diabetes, and researching possible ‘triggers’, causes, and even treatments, including some that are based right here in Australia.

One of these is a very interesting Australian study known as ENDIA, or “environmental determinants of islet autoimmunity”

We have posted information about this wonderful Australian Study before, but we have many new members who may be unaware of it. One of our Facebook Closed Group ‘Pregnancy and Parenting’ members has asked if we can ‘share’ the links here, hoping to get some more people to commit to the study. Note it is Australia only.

“Hello Helen, I am a member of one of your diabetes closed groups on FB. I have a son who is T1 and has been so since he was 18 months old (he is now 9). Here is a link about the ENDIA study that is being conducted around Australia. We are part of this study and it is about Type 1 diabetes in children. For example, studying what the ‘trigger’ could be for the onset of T1; studying using cord blood to prevent or delay the onset of T1; and studying whether cord blood can be used in assisting T1 children to ‘kick start’ the pancreas. One positive is that being part of this study the storage of cord blood is very cheap. Here is the link, and I hope you do post it, thank you so much”

Thanks to our group member for her story.

Helen

Helen Wilde

Senior Counsellor

Helen has been the parent of someone with diabetes since 1979. She has lived with Type 2 diabetes herself since 2001, and has been a Counsellor with the service since 2002.

www.endia.org.au/about/the-endia-study
The ENDIA study | ENDIA
www.endia.org.au
We are asking women who are pregnant and have Type 1 Diabetes themselves or have a family member with Type 1 Diabetes who would be a first-degree relative of the baby, i.e. the baby’s father or the baby’s older sibling, to consider participating.
The ENDIA study | ENDIAendia.org.auThere is also a Facebook group which you may like to visit, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/endiastudy?fref=ts

The ENDIA study | ENDIA

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Common denominator, the secret diabetes club

October 8, 2014 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

I’ve been at my job now for 6 months, I’ve hit the half way mark.

As I am undergoing a traineeship we have to attend training days. The other day I attended my third training day, I had met most of them there already, the fellow trainees, who were experiencing everything I was, and somehow in conversation it came up that this girl has Type 1 Diabetes. I immediately chirped ‘so do I’! (as if we were both of a unique and mystified breed.)

Everyone at our table expressed a puzzled look, as if ‘how did we not know this’. I feel whenever I announce that I have type 1 diabetes, whoever I am talking to seem slightly offended and intrigued as if I should be introducing myself with it before my name.

Not that they say anything to that degree.

Immediately my fellow trainee and I had a bond, something only we share with everyone else who has type 1 diabetes. We went on to ask the standard questions, how long, pump or no pump, the moans and groans of the stereotypes and all the annoying factors that come with diabetes.

We shared a lot in common, one concern she had was living by herself, she said she would like to move out but having diabetes and not having anyone there in case of an emergency worried her. I have the same thoughts, though I am in no rush to move out, the thought of living by myself after hearing some pretty scary diabetes related stories (let alone all the rest) does terrify me.

It’s nice to know that I’m not going through this alone, and as I finish writing this post I am going to send her an email to see how she is going at her job and everything else.

Until next time,

Georgia from the ‘Secret Diabetes Club’

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The prick of a thing about blood glucose monitors

September 25, 2014 by Helen-Edwards 1 Comment

Image via http://www.mein-diabetes-blog.com/tag/stechhilfe/

Do you check your blood glucose regularly? I don’t ask in judgement, because we are all different when it comes to diabetes – some of you will check your blood many times a day, others not at all. It all depends on your type and stage of diabetes, management and personal preference. I am asking because I have been thinking a lot lately about how dependent we are on the technology for managing diabetes and how that is both great and not so great.

As a teenager I rebelled against checking my blood, after this replaced urine testing. You would think I would have embraced it as it is far better than checking your pee. But for me it was one change too many in a short space of time. Another thing to learn. Another sign of my diabetes. Another moment of distress in each day. And in those days it was an enormous process! There were many steps and it took a lot longer than the quick machines we have today. It wasn’t the kind of thing you carried with you. I had a testing station in my bedroom and that was where my tests were done.

After a while I mostly stopped checking and made up my results for my parents and the doctors. I could not have cared less about what my blood sugar was doing. I cared far more about being a teenager and having a good time.

This lancet machine (which I still have!) may have been part of the reason I rebelled! It really actually bloody hurt!!

Oh how that has changed. Now I am the complete opposite! I carry my machine everywhere and check up to 20 times a day. We have 5 second machines and virtually painless prickers. If I do not check before driving, eating, exercising, sleeping…..I feel stressed, anxious. I learnt that knowing what my blood glucose is doing gives me power. Power to make adjustments and changes. Power to deal with highs and lows. And peace of mind.

this is the meter I had to use back in the day! Pic via Pinterest and originally via http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_738655

I never go out without it but lately have had a few cases of losing my machine and it was very scary and stressful. I realised how much I rely on this little machine each and every day. The last time I lost one was a few weeks ago. I was an hour away from home and there was nobody to help me. I could not find it anywhere in my bag. I drove home totally stressed about not knowing what my levels were, made worse by the fact I had high levels on arrival at the person I was visiting and had a bolus of insulin, so needed to track the fall. I got home and pulled the house apart to find my back up machine. Later the person I was visiting found it on the road, fallen out from my car.

It was not a case of losing my machine but forgetting it, that caused me more stress this week. I was out for a lunch time run and went to check my levels…..no machine. I NEVER exercise without it and always check during my run as I can drop fast. My parents were away and my husband at work. There was nobody to bring my machine to me. I made the call to cut the run short and head home. Luckily, as I was 4 mmol on arrival at home. It was a stressful run back and it struck me how much it sucks to have type 1 diabetes and not even be able to do a simple thing like going for a run without all this stress…..

Don’t you hate it when diabetes stops you doing something so simple? And the reliance on that machine is both wonderful that we have them, and terrible that we have to be so dependent on them. That’s the prick of a thing about blood glucose monitors.

Have you had a similar experience? Would love to hear

I am off for a finger prick!

Helen

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